


Sirius Black's Career Aspirations

by ElectraCute



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Gen, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Young Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22978774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectraCute/pseuds/ElectraCute
Summary: Sirius Black is only seven, but he already has plans for the future.
Relationships: Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Sirius Black & Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Kudos: 22





	Sirius Black's Career Aspirations

**Author's Note:**

> This (very) short story is inspired by an Ezra Miller interview where he confessed to having this particular aspiration as a child.
> 
> It is set in the same Muggle AU that my friend @todaslasmadrugadas and I have already used in our fics (The Boys of Summer, Off the Tapestry, Mischief etc.).
> 
> Enjoy!

At five years old, Regulus is still not very clever. Sirius observes him as he uses his toy stethoscope to examine his stuffed bunny, except he has put the earplugs on the bunny’s ears instead of his own so this examination will most likely be fruitless.

“What are you doing?” he asks in contempt, and Regulus turns to him with big bright eyes and a smile. “I wanna be a doctor when I grow up!” he explains, but Sirius proceeds to snatch the stethoscope and use it properly to listen to the bunny’s heart. Regulus frowns.

“ _This_ is how you examine a patient,” he says. “Your bunny is very ill. You should take him to the hospital.” Immediately, though, he gets bored of all this doctor play. “This is lame. I would hate being a doctor. You know what I’m gonna be when I grow up?” Regulus’s eyes widen. “I’m gonna be a cartoon character.”

Unfortunately, it is at that moment that Bellatrix chooses to appear, carrying some books back to the library. Despite being only fourteen, she now considers herself an adult and refuses to take part in any games with the rest of them or do anything else even remotely childish. Sirius does not miss her particularly, though - she was bossy and obnoxious and never let anyone have fun.

“You can’t be a cartoon character as a profession, Sirius. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” The words come stinging and venomous, and Sirius turns around to look at her in disbelief.

“Oh yeah? And why is that?” If Bellatrix thinks she can mock him like that, she is fooling herself. Sirius knows her too well to believe this.

“Cartoon characters aren’t real, you idiot. They are drawn. Actors only do their voices.”

Sirius stops dead in his tracks for a moment. He feels his entire world about to shatter. “B-but… they walk and talk like us!” he protests.

Bellatrix lets out a deep, forlorn sigh. “Are you really that dense? I’m telling you, they are drawings! And there’s an actor behind them who does their voice. Is it really that complicated for you?”

Tears begin to well in his eyes. “So does that mean… that people cannot… that I cannot…”

Bellatrix groans in exasperation and just leaves the room.

Devastated, Sirius sits in the corner and cries. Regulus approaches him with caution, and hands him the stuffed bunny in consolation.


End file.
